A Semi-Big Weekend Planned

It has been a long and uneventful week, and I’m actually thankful for that!  It is overcast and raining today, a bit nippy outside.  Other than that, it should be a nice ending to the week.

This weekend, however, may bring a little adventure outside the home.  We signed Noah up for t-ball last weekend, and this Saturday at noon he goes for “skills evaluation.”  I’m not really concerned about how well he’ll do.  My idea of the whole sport is that he have fun, make friends and learn something along the way.  Fitness, also, is a good reward for playing ;)  Maybe I should sign myself up for some baseball!

Sunday we are going to see Playhouse Disney Live! at the Nashville Municipal Auditorium.  Highly recommended show, but I feel the tickets were a bit expensive for a kids show.  But that’s just me, evidently.  No cameras allowed, which is a bit disappointing.  I’d like a little reminder of our being there without having to spend an arm and a leg on merchandise they may be pushing.

That’s just about it for our weekend plans.  I do intend to pick up Book 3 of the Inheritance Cycle from C. Paolini.  Finished the second book Wednesday night at work and can’t wait to sink my teeth into the next one!

Michael Landon Jr. Article

Guideposts has recently published an article featuring Michael Landon Jr.  Nice little read.

His Father’s Footsteps – Guideposts

I Know I Shouldn’t … But I Am

I have this ominous cloud of doom hovering in my brain about work and my future there.  Things are just so bad for everyone, right now, that I know it isn’t really “personal” should I get laid off, but that still doesn’t ease my nerves.  I think what sets my fears in motion, more than anything, is the fact that – even though I’m technically not the one that should be next in line to go – I know I’m the next one in line to go. 

Reason being: two of the guys I work with have left the company about 5 years ago.  One was fired and the other retired.  Now they are back, started over from scratch and supposedly reset all their benefits.  And while they have the “experience” of our department, the company is supposedly judging you based on years of service.  Which, honestly, if these guys came back and started from scratch … is it really fair to give them retro-points of benefit in the judging?  It was their decision to leave (bad mistakes or not).  What makes me more “sure” of their safety is the fact that they are the supervisors buddies.  While that isn’t suppose to come into play, everyone who has ever worked knows that those relationships always factor in to decisions.

But anyways, I’m just up late pondering my future and what God may decide to do with me.  And like I said, I do understand that I’m not the only one in this boat, but sometimes it does feel that way.

 

J.

Quiet Saturday Afternoon

It’s suppose to start raining around 3PM, then later this evening turn into snow showers.  Nothing yet, and it’s almost 4.  Cloudy and dark outside, heavy winds at times.  Actually kind of nice, in my opinion.

Woke up and saw the wife and son off to Cookville to visit her grandmother on the father’s side.  She’s been in the hospital after having some breathing treatments, a pig valve implanted in her heart and having what they believe was a minor stroke and internal bleeding following the surgery.  Amazingly, she’s doing fine, now!  Modern medicine and prayer, what a wonderful combination, eh?

After they left I went back to bed for a couple of hours then grabbed a quick shower.  I drove to Stewertsboro Elementary School to register Noah for summer t-ball (coach pitch w/ a tee if needed).  That was $73 invested in his fitness.  Afterwards, I called to check on my mom, grabbed a bite from Sonic and came home. 

Now I’m playing some WoW, doing some laundry and tidying up here and there as I go.  It’s just another nice, quiet weekend.  I hope yours is the same!

It’s … FRIDAY!

Got off work early because we had nothing to do.  Playing WoW to level up my Paladin. Listening to The Geekbox.  Waiting for the perfect moment this weekend to sit down and watch my recorded Friday shows (BSG, Dollhouse, Terminator:TSCC).

Insert Petty, Babbling Comments Here

Last week was an outstanding week.  This one is looking to be just as great!  I have felt wonderful, getting plenty of sleep, active during the daytime, giving my most at work.  It’s amazing how a little energy can make you feel.  Do you know what I attribute it to?  Here are two things at play, right now, in my life.  First is that I haven’t been eating the usual amounts of fast food at nearly every meal.  That’s right, the family has decided to stick 99% to their grocery lists and forfit the McDonalds and KFC’s of the world.  My energy alone in that decision has skyrocketed.  No greasy fries or questionable beef patties.  We have enjoyed a nice resturaunt on the weekend, but nothing like what we are use to.

Second on this list – and I know there is going to be some eye-rolling when this comes up – is the fact that I’ve been expanding my religious beliefs.  Once before I’d attempted to do this and failed due to various forces, but mainly due to my own weakness for conflict.  The past two weeks, however, I’ve attended church, been reading the Bible, listening to a bible study podcast and reading a few other books concerning ones religious affairs.  It’s scientific fact that there are areas of the brain stimulated by such actions, but more than that, there is the simple feeling of worth and faith that comes with learning, practicing and growing in ones religious beliefs.

I’ve a long road to travel, so I won’t even pretend to know what I’m talking about, just that I feel wonderful.  I hope it doesn’t go away!

13 Things Not To Share With Co-Workers

MSN Careers has actually posted a good bit of information on workplace do’s and don’ts.  This particular list is a number of things you shouldn’t discuss with co-workers.  From experience, I can say I agree 100%.

For Example:

5. Cost of purchases
The spirit of keeping up with the Joneses is alive and well in the workplace, Lopeke says, but you don’t want others speculating on the lifestyle you’re living –or if you’re living beyond your salary bracket.

9. Blogs or social networking profile
What you say in a social networking community or in your personal blog may be even more damaging than what you say in person, Solovic warns. “Comments online can be seen by multiple eyes. An outburst of anger when you are having a bad day … can blow up in your face.”

12. Personal problems and relationships – in and out of the office
“Failed marriages and volatile romances spell instability to an employer,” Lopeke says. Office romances lead to gossip and broken hearts, so it’s best to steer clear. “The safest way to play is to follow the rule, ‘Never get your honey where you get your money.’”

Crazy Dream About “School”

Last night I had the craziest dream.  In it, I was my current age, but in school with everyone else I went to school with … and they were present day age as well.  Two of us were in trouble for one reason or another and were having to stand against the wall … but it was odd because there seemed to be no control in the class.  Next thing I know, the bell rings and we all take off into the halways.

This is where it gets weird.  It was my old school, but it was different.  As I run through the halls trying to get to the next class, I realize that this particular school is in the future!  It’s decked out with stores amid the classrooms.  Books for sale line walls, produce is in the main hallway, clothes are being sold in one room, etc, etc.  And the school is huge,  at least 3 stories high. 

At one point, looking for my next class, I wander outside … the landscape is a wasteland, people are grungy and fighting over something.  It’s evidently a post-apocalyptic wasteland and everyone has taken up residence in the multi-level school.  To make matters worse, the classrooms are scattered amongst all three levels as are various factions of people, not all of them getting along. 

I woke up after realize this because of someone in the house talking.  It was probably my weirdest dream in awhile.  I actually had a semi-related dream just before that, but it took place somewhere else and the main person was trying to – for some reason or another – kill someone in an old house in the upstairs section.  All secretive about it, trying to hide the gun and everything.  Right when he was about to go upstairs, that’s when my dream seemed to switch to the school dream.

Crazy man, crazy.

Energy

I have an amazing amount of energy this afternoon.  Not exactly sure where it came from, but it feels good!  Woke up around 8:30AM, went grocery shopping.  Came back and had lunch.  Noah and I went to the dump then spent the past two hours outside with his 4-wheeler, swinging and picking up the back yard.

If I’m lucky, I’ll be able to keep this up all week, otherwise, I’ll crash in a weary pile after dinner tonight at work.  Oh my!  Oh, and I’ll be working alone this Thursday and Friday.  Co-worker off for 2 days.  Joy!  Especially if the 20% chance of rain happens to come true.

Bill Gates Wants Everyone To Share …

the experience of Malaria!

Bill Gates Releases Moquitoes Into Audience – MSNBC

 

"Bill Gates just released mosquitos into the audience at TED and said, ‘Not only poor people should experience this.’"

That was the post by Facebook’s Senior Platform Manager Dave Morin on social networking site Twitter.